Printmaking

The first craft book for kids that I wrote, well over twenty years ago, was called Prints.

It was filled with lots of neat methods of printmaking including using vegetables, sponges, pipe cleaners and more. One of the methods I liked best was to cut designs into erasers. It's a method of printmaking that I still enjoy, but I haven't made any new stamps in ages. A while ago I spent a day in Toronto with Emily and she introduced me to one of her favourite shops, Kid Icarus. They have awesome printmaking supplies, so I was re-inspired to cut a few new stamps. 

This first one is a replica of a tiny drawing of a dog that Emily gave me when she was just eight or nine years old. I've had it on my desk ever since!

I photocopied the drawing to make it a wee bit bigger. Then I traced over it with pencil, and turned it upside down onto the white eraser. 

I rubbed it so that the image was applied to the eraser.

Then I used my X-acto knife and wood-carving tool to carve the stamp.

I pressed it onto a blank ink pad, stamped it onto paper, and this is how it turned out.

Emily loved it!

 This next stamp that I carved isn't very complicated.

This is what it looks like when pressed onto a black ink pad

 and  stamped onto paper. It looks fine, 

but I knew I needed something more to go with it...

...so I cut this one. It's quite rough looking, 

and doesn't look like much of anything...

...even when it's stamped on paper.

But, when one is stamped on top of the other, I think it looks kind of cool.

Then I used different colours and shades of ink to make what I hope is an interesting-looking card.

I'm really glad to be back at doing some printmaking!

All the best,

Judy Ann